I am now a Proud new member of The European Film Academy Board. The results of the election of the new Board by the  2500 members have been announced at the recent EFA Awards. I am so happy they have trusted me with this honor. Chairman Yves Marmion has been re elected. Vive l'Europe The creation of the European Film Academy (EFA) was the initiative of a group of Europe’s finest filmmakers brought together on the occasion of the first European Film Awards Cerem...

Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs Frank-Walter Steinmeier visiting the 18th FilmFestival CottbusOn Tuesday, 11th November 2008, Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Brandenburg's Minister President Matthias Platzeck will be visiting Cottbus as patrons of the 18th film festival. Numerous guests from the world of arts, politics and business are expected at this event in the Grosses Haus of the Staatstheater in Cottbus. Petra Maria Müller and Kirsten Niehuus, managin...

1. Russian Day - Highlights of the YearWith the establishment of a „Russian Day“ the festival is paying tribute to the Russian cinema which has found its way back to its former glory and reputation after years of stagnation. Future years will also see this programme making the public and professional visitors better acquainted with the cinematic "highlights of the year" from the most prolific filmmaking country of Eastern Europe. This will be accompanied for the first time this year and in c...

The Feature Film and Short Feature Competitions Ten films from ten countries of Central and Eastern Europe were nominated for the Feature Film Competition, stretching geographically from the Polish neighbour to far-off Kazakhstan. They include three international co-productions, of which two were made in collaboration with German partners. The traditionally strong Czech cinema is represented with two films, while the revived Russian cinematography – by far the most productive film nation of Ea...

WHAT IS “EKRAN”?The European training programme EKRAN is a collaborative project between the Andrzej Wajda Master School of Film Directing, FOCAL (Switzerland), the Norwegian Film Institute, the Filmstiftung Nordrhein-Westfalen, the Internationale Film Schule Köln, International Film School Wales & Skillset Screen Academy Wales and the Netherlands Film Institute.EKRAN (the Polish word for “screen”) is an international training program focusing on the creative pre-production process base...